The road cycling team at Andover provides students with the
opportunity to race at a competitive level against other prep school
athletes. We are a co-ed team of fifteen to twenty members with varsity
and junior varsity riders intermixed. We ride and train throughout the
spring with the race season starting in mid April and running into mid
to late May. We have the opportunity to train off campus every afternoon
during the spring and whether we are doing a series of hill repeats
nearby or a longer endurance ride to Topsfield, our practices are always
filled with good camaraderie and friendly competition. Although boys
and girls race separately, we ride together during practices. The team
has a unique, long-standing way of planning rides with the streets and
intersections around the region having witty nicknames. A training ride,
for example, may be as follows; out via Chicken Sargent, Donut, Killer
Bee, and back by way of Windrush, Campbell Soup, Corkscrew. Although it
can sometimes be confusing even to veteran team members, it helps riders
learn how to navigate the area.

Instructor in History and Social
Science Derek Williams '65 founded the team in 1981 along with a few
renegade students – among them current head coach Thayer Zaeder '83. In
that first year, among the original eight schools, Andover won the
league championships. Since its inception, the league has grown
considerably. Currently, over 150 riders from about a dozen schools
comprise the
New England Road Cycling League.

The league racing is now divided into five racing categories based on
skill level to ensure that all riders, regardless of ability, have the
opportunity to race at a competitive level. League races vary in type
and length but include time trials, circuit courses, pairs time trails
and road races. Because not all students own a racing bike when they
first join the team, the school acquired a collection of race-quality
loaner bikes with the help of Ken Thomson, whose daughter Jennifer ’87
raced on the team. Thanks to the generosity of the Abbot Academy
Association and the Clay family, whose two sons both raced on the team,
the school refurbished the aging fleet of loaner bikes in 2008 with
seven brand-new racing bikes. As a result, no student is at an unfair
disadvantage trying out for the team or racing in the league.

Quite often, riders who are on the team at Andover are smitten by the
sport and choose to pursue it beyond high school. Several team members
have gone on to compete in college and in United States Cycling
Federation (USCF) races. Doug Friman '93 is a nationally ranked
triathlete and was an alternate on the last three U.S. Olympic teams.
Kris Hedges '99 was the 2003 Division II U.S. Collegiate Road Race
Champion and Arielle Filiberti '07 was the 2005 U.S. Junior Women's
Cyclocross Champion and 2006 U.S. Junior Women’s Road Champion. The
athletic competition in the league is certainly first-rate and many
Andover riders have gone on to pursue further racing experience and even
professional careers associated with cycling.

Regardless of your
previous cycling experience, we hope that you'll consider trying out
for the team. If you are interested, please contact
Coach Zaeder at
tzaeder@andover.edu or Coach
Ben Duclos at
bduclos​​@andover.edu.